JPH09127966A - Download management method for communication karaoke device, and communication karaoke system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the load of a host device and download a music file group edited every terminal device (communication karaoke device). SOLUTION: The conditions (selecting conditions) for selecting a music file to be downloaded from a host device 1 are stored on a communication karaoke device 3 side. The selecting conditions include the latest release number which is the latest number of the file already downloaded, the machine kind code showing functions of the device, and the contract code for determrining the genre of the music file to be downloaded. When the selecting conditions are inputted to the host device 1 to download a new music file, the host device 1 selects a one suitable to these conditions from a number of stored music files, and downloads only this music file. Thus, only a necessary music file can be downloaded while reducing the load of the host device 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a download management method for a communication karaoke device and a communication karaoke device which have improved efficiency when a music file for performing a karaoke performance is downloaded from a host device to the communication karaoke device. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A communication karaoke device has been put into practical use in which a music file is downloaded from a host device and the music file is played to play a karaoke performance. New music files are registered in the host device at any time, and approximately 10 new music files registered at the same time are collected as release files. A music file is downloaded to the online karaoke device in units of this release file. A serial number (release number) is attached to each release file.

The online karaoke apparatus stores the release number of the most recently downloaded release file, and the release file after this release number is downloaded at the next downloading opportunity.

[0004]

By the way, there are various models of the online karaoke apparatus, and the functions thereof are different for each model. Therefore, not all music files can be played by all communication karaoke devices, and some music files cannot be played by the downloaded communication karaoke devices. In addition, there are places where only karaoke songs (music files) of a genre biased by the store type (karaoke snacks, karaoke box, etc.) in which the online karaoke device is installed are requested, so only music files of some genres are requested. There are also online karaoke devices that have contracts to download.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional download method, all the music files included in the release file are downloaded, so that only the music files necessary for the communication karaoke device side, which is the terminal device, are stored and stored.
In addition to the work of discarding unnecessary music files, unnecessary music files are also downloaded, which results in unnecessary communication time and communication costs.

Further, if the host device side stores information such as model data and contract contents of each communication karaoke device,
The host device can also select the music file to be downloaded in accordance with this information, but it is very complicated to store information about all the online karaoke devices in the host device that manages an extremely large number of online karaoke devices. Therefore, there is a problem that data retention is dangerous.

[0007] Further, although there are cases where a communication karaoke device is exchanged or download conditions are changed in a store, in the above method, the conditions of the exchange and the change of conditions are followed until the conditions are registered in the host device. There were some inconveniences, such as the download was not performed and no download was received at all, and the music files were downloaded under the old conditions.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by designating a music file to be downloaded from the terminal device side to the host device on the terminal side based on the stored model, contract information, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide a download file management method and a communication karaoke system.

[0009]

According to the invention of claim 1 of this application, the selection condition of the download file is stored in the communication karaoke device, and when the music file is downloaded, the communication karaoke device sends the selection condition to the host device. The host device transmits a selection condition, selects a music file that matches the selection condition from a large number of stored music files, and transmits only the selected music file to the communication karaoke device. To do.

The invention of claim 2 of this application is a communication karaoke apparatus comprising: a selection condition storing means for storing selection conditions of a music file to be downloaded; and a means for transmitting the selection condition to a host device at the time of downloading. A host device comprising means for storing a large number of music files, means for selecting music files according to the selection conditions received from the communication karaoke device, and means for transmitting only the selected music files to the communication karaoke device. It is characterized by consisting of.

According to the present invention, the communication karaoke device stores the music data downloaded from the host device, reads the music data according to the user's request, and plays the karaoke performance. The communication karaoke device downloads a new music file (new music file) from the host device every certain period, but a file already downloaded, a file that cannot be played on its own device, or a file out of contract is downloaded. That is useless. Therefore, such a condition is stored in the communication karaoke device side, and when downloading, only the music file suitable for the karaoke device is requested based on the stored information. As a result, the host device does not need to store many conditions for each communication karaoke device, and individual correspondence is also unnecessary. Further, when the condition is changed such as the exchange of the online karaoke device only on the terminal side, it becomes possible to immediately receive the corresponding download without registering with the host.

[0012]

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication karaoke system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication karaoke device is configured by connecting a host device 1 and a communication karaoke device 3 which is a plurality of terminal devices by a telephone line. The telephone line may be a public telephone line, and the line may be connected when necessary. A mass storage device 2 is connected to the host device 1. In this mass storage device 2,
A large number of music files to be downloaded to the online karaoke apparatus 3 are stored. The music file is a data file for karaoke performance including a header, a musical sound track, a lyrics display track, a voice track, and the like. These music files are collectively stored as release files for each creation time, and each release file is identified by a release number which is a serial number given in ascending order of editing date (see FIG. 3B).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication karaoke device which is a terminal device in the communication karaoke system. The communication karaoke device reads a music file previously received from the host device in response to a request from the singer and executes a karaoke performance. The control unit 10 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus is composed of a microcomputer. A communication control unit 12, a storage unit 11, a musical sound synthesis unit 13, and an image synthesis unit 14 are connected to the control unit 10. The communication controller 12 is connected to the host device 1 via a public telephone line, and downloads a release file, etc.
Control communication with The storage unit 11 stores the downloaded music file and the like. The musical sound synthesizer 13 synthesizes an accompaniment sound based on the data (musical sound track, audio track) of the music file and reproduces a sound such as a back chorus. The tone synthesizer 13 is connected to the sound system 17, and the synthesized tone and reproduced voice signals are input to the sound system 17. A singing microphone 16 is connected to the sound system 17. The singing voice of the singer is input from the singing microphone 16. The sound system 17 gives an effect such as reverb to these signals, amplifies them, and outputs them to the speaker 18. The image composition unit 14 also generates an image to be displayed on the monitor 19 based on the data of the music file. A CD-ROM player 15 is connected to the image synthesizing unit 14 and selects a background image stored in the CD-ROM based on the genre data included in the music file. Further, the music file includes a lyrics display track, and the character pattern of the lyrics telop is displayed based on the data of the lyrics display track. An image to be displayed on the monitor 19 is generated by synthesizing the background image and the character pattern of the lyrics telop.

In this communication karaoke system, the communication karaoke device 3 connected to the host device 1 is used.
There are plural types of online karaoke devices 3 instead of the same model. Different models have different functions such as the musical sound synthesizer 13 and the image synthesizer 14. That is, the number of tones that can be simultaneously synthesized (64 tones, 128 tones), the presence / absence of the automatic harmony function, and the possibility of switching the background video halfway are different. Therefore, the music file corresponding to each model is registered in the host device 1. Each model is identified by a model code.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a release file stored in the mass storage device 2 of the host device 1 (FIG. 3A) and all release files currently registered in the mass storage device 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a release file list (FIG. 2B) that is a list of FIG. The release file is identified by the release number, and is composed of a plurality (around 10) of music files. The music file is
It consists of a start code, compatible model code, version, genre code, data body and end code. The start code is a code indicating the start of the music file, and the end code is a code indicating the end of the music file. The compatible model code is the model code of the communication karaoke device to which this music data is applicable. When this music file corresponds to a plurality of models, a plurality of corresponding model codes are written accordingly. The version is a numerical value of how many times the performance contents of the same song are updated. The genre code is a code indicating what kind of music the music of this music file is. What is a kind?
Enka, rock, new music, etc. As described above, the data body contains the music track, voice track,
Includes lyrics display tracks.

In the release file list shown in FIG. 1B, the file number, the number of songs, and the release date (announcement date) of the release file registered in the mass storage device 2 are shown.
Is recorded. According to the figure, 100 release files with release numbers 30 to 129 are registered in the mass storage device 2. The number of songs registered for each release number is 10-12. Also, it can be seen that each release file is released almost every week. Then, according to this list, the mass storage device 2
In this case, 100 weeks of release files are stored, but more files may be registered.

FIG. 4 shows the storage unit 11 of the online karaoke apparatus.
FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of the stored contents of FIG. 3A and a download file transmitted from the host device 1 to the online karaoke device (FIG. 2B).

In FIG. 1A, the storage unit 11 stores a plurality of (several thousands of pieces of music) music files, a model code, a contract code, and the latest release number. The model code is a code indicating the model of the communication karaoke device. The function of this communication karaoke apparatus is determined by this model code. This model code is stored in the storage unit 11
Of these, it may be stored in the HDD or burned in the ROM. The contract code is a contract content regarding what music file is downloaded. The contract includes, for example, a contract to download all (playable) music files, a contract to download only enka, and a contract to download non-enka. This contract is H
It may be stored in the DD, or the ROM in which the contract content is written may be built in the communication karaoke device so that the user cannot arbitrarily rewrite the contract content. Further, when the data is stored in the HDD, it goes without saying that the contract content can be promptly changed at the time of maintenance work.

When the host device 1 receives a download request based on the model code, contract code, latest release number, etc. stored and held in the communication karaoke device 3 which is a terminal device, the host device 1 receives the download request based on the request from the terminal. Compress unnecessary music files in the release file and send. That is, a music file of a model that does not correspond to the model code of the communication karaoke device is compressed, and a music file of a genre not contracted is compressed based on the contract code. The download file edited in this way is shown in FIG. The music file has a structure in which the data body etc. is sandwiched between the start code and end code, but regarding unnecessary music files,
Skip the data body when sending only the start code and end code. That is, a null music file is set.
As a result, the amount of transmission data can be reduced. It should be noted that the reason why only the start code and the end code are transmitted is that it is necessary to rewrite the check data and the like of the number of files when the files themselves disappear.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a download process of the communication karaoke apparatus. At the download timing (for example, every Monday morning or the like, which is determined by shifting for each communication karaoke device), the host device is called (s1). As a result, when the line is connected to the host device 1 (s2), the operation proceeds to s3 and below. If the line is not connected due to busy, etc., the operation ends. After this, the main control program decides whether to redial or cancel this download.

At s3, the host device is requested to transmit the release file list (FIG. 3B). It waits in s4 until the release file list is sent from the host device 1. When the release file list is sent, select the required release file from these.
As the required release file, in principle, the release after the latest release number stored in the online karaoke apparatus is selected from the list. The number of the required release file and the filter data, that is, the data for selecting the required music file from the release files are transmitted to the host device (s6). The filter data includes the model code and contract code described above. The host device 1 selects a necessary music file from the release files based on this filter data, and compresses unnecessary music files into only the start code and end code, as described above, and transmits them. When the edited release file is received (s7), the stored content of the music file storage area is updated (s8). That is, the new music file (new music file) is additionally written in the empty area, and in the case of the new version of the music file already stored, the old version is erased and overwritten. After this, the latest release number storage area is updated to the number of the latest release file downloaded this time (s9), and the operation is completed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the host device 1. This operation is executed when there is access from the terminal. When a telephone call is made from the terminal, the line is connected (s20). Then, it waits until there is a request for transmitting the release file list (s21). When there is a transmission request, the release file list is transmitted (s22).
Communication karaoke device, which is a terminal device, refers to this release file list and uploads the required release file list, so it waits until it is received (s23).
Upon receiving the required release file list and the filter data, the host device, in response to the request from the terminal, matches the filter data among the music files included in the required release file, that is, the corresponding model code matches, and the contract code. Only those of the genre corresponding to are selected, and the others are compressed and transmitted only to the start code and the end code (see FIG. 4B). This will allow you to send everything you need with a minimal amount of data.

In the present embodiment, the communication karaoke device, which is a terminal device, accesses the host device, but the host device may access the communication karaoke device.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the selection condition of the music file to be downloaded is stored on the side of the communication karaoke device which is the terminal device, the host device stores the data relating to many terminal devices. This eliminates the need for storage, saves storage capacity, and eliminates the need for frequent maintenance. Also, at the time of downloading, the selection conditions are sent from the online karaoke device,
Select the music file to download accordingly, so you can download only what you need,
Time and communication costs can be saved.

In particular, in this system, even if the selection condition is changed such as the exchange of the terminal device, it is not necessary to register the change of the condition in the host device, and a new selection condition can be set on the terminal side at the time of downloading. You can get the appropriate download promptly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication karaoke system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a communication karaoke device which is a terminal device of the communication karaoke system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mass storage device of a host device of the communication karaoke system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a storage unit of the online karaoke apparatus and a configuration of a file to be downloaded.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a communication processing operation of the communication karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a communication processing operation of a host device of the same communication karaoke system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-host device, 2-mass storage device, 3-communication karaoke device, 11-storage unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Semba 10-1 Nakazawa-cho, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka Yamaha Stock Company (72) Inventor Yuichi Murai 5-526 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Daiichi Kosho (72) Inventor Seiji Fukuda 66-2 Horikawa-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Toshiba Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Satoshi Ono 66-2 Horikawa-cho, Sai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A communication karaoke device stores a selection condition of a download file, the communication karaoke device transmits the selection condition to a host device when a music file is downloaded, and the host device stores a large number of items. A download management method for a communication karaoke device, comprising selecting a music file that matches the selection condition from the existing music files and transmitting only the selected music file to the communication karaoke device. 2. A communication karaoke device comprising a selection condition storage means for storing selection conditions of music files to be downloaded, and a means for transmitting the selection conditions to a host device at the time of downloading, and a large number of music files are stored. A host karaoke system, comprising: a host device including means and means for selecting a music file according to a selection condition received from the communication karaoke device and transmitting only the selected music file to the communication karaoke device.